Drowning in Memories
by Shiruba Fokkusu
Summary: When people you love die, what do you do? What emotions do you feel? How do you react? After Shuuichi’s mother drowns in an accident, he walks around the coast of Japan, contemplating about her life. Lots of flashbacks… One-shot, first person view.


Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho.

Summary: When people you love die, what do you do? What do you feel? How do you react?

After Shuuichi's mother drowns in an accident, he walks around the coast of Japan, contemplating about her life. Lot's of flashbacks… One-shot, first person view.

**Drowning in Memories**

I was slowly walking around the boat docks, loathing everything in sight. Depression and hopelessness set into my heart, just as a rock sinks to the bottom of the ocean. The very same ocean that took so many lives…

Flashback

"Shuuichi, this is so much fun!" my mother laughs, as she speeds through the water on her water skis. I laugh along with her, my younger step-brother sitting in the passenger **(1) **seat of the speedboat. My step-father is driving it, looking back now and then to make sure my mother is okay.

Me? I am sitting on the edge of the docks. Why? I am busy trying to get my bothersome hair tied. My hair is always escaping from my hair bands, and getting my hair wet makes me extremely irritable.

Before I realize it, a crash resounds through the air. Many screams attack my ears, as I look up. There, I don't see anything wrong, until I realize the speedboat had stopped. Picking up binoculars lying beside me, I look closer. My mother is not there.

Before I can comprehend what had happened, my step-father had the speedboat against the docks. Even faster than that, we were at the funeral, grieving over the woman, Shiori Minamino, death by drowning.

End Flashback

Gone… everything just evaporated out of my life. My happiness, laughter and content merely left. They left as abruptly as the sun when day turns to night in the winter. Though the sun would come back the next day, bringing light and hope, the happy days of my youth will be forever lost.

My most treasured possessions, her flowers, had been nurtured by her tender, loving hands. Her flowers might not have been as radiant as mine, but hers had been nurtured by love, not demon energy. The colors were divine as though they were grown by an angel itself. Of course, she _was_ an angel. Thoughtful, generous, understanding, sensible could _describe_ her, but just couldn't capture the essence of her… perfection. Perfection I once knew as "Mother".

Flashback

"Watch out, or you'll cut your finger. Oh, look what happened. Here, a band-aid," she says, as I accidentally cut myself chopping carrots. I am indifferent, for I will be out of this body in a few years, anyway. No reason to become attached.

---

"Shuuichi, you need to cut that hair, it's getting too long." My mother laughs, playing with my hair while we are watching television. She might be annoying, but her touch is soft…

---

"My little boy, going to Meiou High School…" she mutters to herself. Tears of happiness are trailing down her cheeks as she hugs me. Suprisingly, I embrace her back. Thinking back to that one moment she took the cuts from those dishes that were my fault, I could do nothing else.

---

"It's been such a long time since you've brought a friend with you," Mother quietly says in her hospital bed, looking at Yusuke. I don't ever remember bringing a friend her, at all.

---

"It's not so bad. I'm feeling well today." I can tell she's lying. She's pale, and she can barely talk. I so wish she would get better. That is why I have the Forlorn Hope…

---

"A wonderful man, and he has a son, Shuichi. His name is Hatanaka. You'll love him," she swoons about a man she just went out with. Finally, she'll get a man she deserves.

---

End Flashbacks

So deep in thought was I, that I somehow bumped into something… or someone. Plunging into the icy water, I thrashed about.

"Sorry!" said a voice. Gentle hands helped me out of the water. I looked up into the face of perfection… a title I solely used for my mother. Mentally scolding myself, a girl helped me up. I was still dripping, but I was fortunate not to join those in the watery graves. She smiled, but I just stared at her. What was there to be happy about?

"Why are you so angry? You live in a rich land, there is peace on these waters, and you survived a near brush with death," she said, laughing. I wasn't that close to death. I hadn't even known her name. Though I wanted to continue glaring, her friendly demeanor was attractive. She told little jokes and funny things that had happened to her when sailing. I ended up laughing too. She gasped slightly, and all laughter ceased.

"Wha—?" I asked, worried about what could make my newfound friend stop laughing. When she didn't respond, I looked up. She was smiling at the heavens. My eyes found the sky, but it was no longer a light blue shade. It was a mixture of red, orange, purple, and dark sapphire.

"Sunsets usually make all your problems go away," she said. I stared into the phenomenon known as a sunset. Never had I appreciated this wondrous happening. The hues were angelic as mother's. We stared in complete wonder until sunset became nightfall. The colors were just so beautiful.

**(1) **Is it called the passenger seat? I don't have much experience with boats.

A/N: This was a story I submitted for an Academic Team competition back in seventh grade. I modified it to make it a YYH fanfic. Originally, it was a girl's first person, and the person who was met on the docks was a guy. I also added the flashback so that it made more sense. And there really isn't an OC, but you can call it that if you want to. I really altered it. Anyway, I hope you all liked it! R&R!

Pages—3, Words—843, Characters—4040, Paragraphs—28, Lines—86

Shiruba Fokkusu


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